


Oaths Between Men and Trees

by sketchbook henry (bessemerprocess)



Category: Lost Girl
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fix-It of Sorts, Other, Ravens, Rescue Missions, Season/Series 04, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-22
Updated: 2018-05-22
Packaged: 2019-05-10 04:22:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14729870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bessemerprocess/pseuds/sketchbook%20henry
Summary: Dyson and Lauren set out to rescue Kenzi. First, they need more information.





	Oaths Between Men and Trees

**Author's Note:**

> This is another chunk of fic that I had larger plans for. I meant to write the whole rescue debacle and explore the idea of Ravens. Sadly, it never got further than these two bits, but I think they are interesting enough to be posted, so here they are.

"She's your Raven, Sir Wolf," Nora says, not bothering to hide the sneer in her voice. She’s in worn jeans and a green cardigan, thick black glasses perched on her nose, hair in a hundred tiny twists. She looks to all the world like the gender studies grad student she is. A second look belies that, she is no untested youth, no academic buried in a tower of books. A mantle of power lays on her shoulders that has not to do with words at all and the trees bend toward her in supplication.

“There are no Ravens left, landsmaid. Not for three-hundred years,” Dyson replies. The forest stretches out around them, and Dyson is keenly aware that they are on her turf, as the breeze blows through a thousand leaves and beams of sunlight dance around them. They are on her turf and he is not particularly welcome here. The Land does not love those who try to bind her for any reason. Not the Ash, not his men, not Dyson, not at all. 

“Oh, is that so Sir Wolf?” Nora asks. “Does your Kenzi not make you laugh, does she not bring you food, and walk side by side with you into battle?” 

He nods. It is true. Kenzi was his friend, the person he turned to for companionship. But she was just that, a person, a human being. “Others make us laugh, feed us, fight with us. That does not make them Ravens,” he replies. 

“You gave an oath, Sir Wolf, to your Queen, did you not?” she asks. The abrupt change of subject throws him, but Dyson nods. He meant every word he had said to Bo, every promise.

“You gave your oath, and you walked into battle, and your Raven flew behind you, didn’t she? She flew behind you and saved you all with the answer to a riddle. The Land knows this. Knows it even if you hadn’t made oaths to her as well.”

“If you know, if she knows, tell me how to save Kenzi. I know the Land has little reason to like me, little reason to want to help, but Kenzi is no part of that. Kenzi saved her, too.” Dyson catches Nora’s eyes and holds them, knowing the Land will hear. Whether she listens, well, Dyson can only hope.

“Your Raven is with Hel, and Hel has no love for your Queen, Sir Wolf. The Land makes no promises, no predictions. She abides. This is all she will tell you. Your Raven is with Hel and Hel’s bridge is closed to you.” The mantle leaves Nora then, and she stumbles forward towards him. Dyson holds out a hand to steady her, but she catches herself. 

“You couldn’t wait until after finals week to have a crisis?” Nora asks, straightening her glasses. 

“I owe you coffee,” Dyson says.

“You owe me weeks of coffee, wolf boy. I should be grading final exams right now. I’d con you into helping me, but I suspect you are going to ignore the Land’s advice and go after your Raven, and more importantly that you couldn’t tell me the difference between bell hooks and Kate Bornstein even with the help of Wikipedia.” 

“When you’re right, you’re right. Still no Ravens, though,” Dyson says.

Nora rolls her eyes, and he is suddenly reminded of Kenzi. “You think that you would know better than the Land?”

“I am a wolf, and the Ravens were always ours. And besides if there were Ravens, they would be with the packs. Not some lone wolf in Canada.”

Nora shakes her head. “Whatever you want to believe Dyson,” she says, as the trees thin and the trail ends in a dirt parking lot.

Lauren is perched on the hood of his car.

“Friend of yours?” Nora asks.

“Yes.”

“Okay, wolf boy. You know where to find me if you need me. And the Land won’t say this, because she doesn’t think this way, but we’re rooting for Kenzi,” Nora says, and then climbs into her car and drives away.

“That was the landsmaid?” Lauren asks, once Nora is gone.

Dyson nods. “The Land says Kenzi is in Helheim.”

“Which would explain why Tamsin isn’t talking,” Lauren replies, sliding off the car to stand next to him. 

“I found her just beyond the Valgrind, though. Why would she lay at the gates of Valhalla if her journey took her to Helheim?”

“Bo did mention she had a run in with Hel.”

“We can’t leave Kenzi in Helheim, even if we can’t bring her back here, she died an honorable warrior.”

“And you would rush the gates of Hell to make sure Kenzi is in the correct afterlife. Of course you would,” Lauren says.

“Helheim has a bridge, actually, but mostly right. The landsmaid seems to think I can’t cross the bridge,” Dyson replies.

“Did she mention me?”

“No.”

“Well then, I’ll tackle the bridge. You just figure out how to get us there,” Lauren says.

“I can’t lose you to Hel, too.”

“Scared Bo will make your life miserable?”

“That, too,” Dyson says with a smile. “You’re family, and I’d come rescue you even if Bo wasn’t in the picture.”

“If Bo wasn’t in the picture, I’d still be the Ash’s property and you’d still be the dour Light cop,” Lauren says. “But she is.”

“Thank the Light,” Dyson says, and Lauren nods.

“So, how do we find this bridge?” Lauren asks.

“We follow the signs. I still have some Masimo’s salve that I used to see Valgrind. It should make the road to Helheim visible as well.”

***

Six hours later, they are hiking through the woods of Northern Ontario. 

“The Valgrind was downtown, why on earth would the bridge to Helheim be in the middle of the freakin’ Arctic.”

"The Valgrind wanted to be found. I think Hel is avoiding visitors at the moment," Dyson says. 

"Of course," Lauren mutters as she pushes her way through the snow. 

This plan is as stupid as they get, but Lauren and Dyson agreed it was the only way. Taking Bo with them was never an option, Tamsin is still not herself, and they'd needed Trick to watch over everyone left behind. Lauren had had her run ins with Hale back when she was still owned by the Light, but she desperately wishes he was still alive and here with them. A vanilla human and a wolf just don't have the power levels their enemies typically bring to the game. On the other hand they were always going to try to save Kenzie, even if they have to trudge through the entire Arctic to do it. 

Doesn't mean Lauren's not going to use this opportunity to get some more information out of Dyson. 

"So, Ravens?"

Dyson sighs, he always does when it's her and something he doesn't want to talk about. Usually that means it's something about Bo. 

"Years and years ago, when the wolf packs were strong and numerous, there were Ravens. They shared with us, helped us find food and our enemies, fought at our sides, and made sure we laughed."

Lauren grins at him. "You wolves are all so dour without someone to make you laugh. Not surprised that someone had to be assigned the task."


End file.
